Values of a Young Witch
by Stormy Bean
Summary: When the trio go visit Hagrid, Hermione discovers a creature that will change her life. RHr
1. Chapter 1 Hagrid

Disclaimer: Of course I own Harry Potter. He's mine!

Snape: Drink this.

Me: Okay! Hey, this isn't veritaserum is it?

Snape: No.

Me: Ok gulps contents of glass

Snape: Do you own Harry Potter or any of it's characters?

Me: Nope nope nope nope

Anyway, that was a stupid disclaimer. Please review, even if it's a flame, because this is my first fic ever.

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"If" said Harry.

"You" that was Ron.

Fred continued, "Were a duck!"

"Fred, you're only supposed to give one word." protested Ron.

Harry, Ron, the twins and Ginny were all sitting, or lying, by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. George had come up with a game consisting of each player giving a word, which ended up concocting a bizarre phrase.

"If you were a duck what?" giggled Ginny.

The common room was deserted, which was uncommon (A/N pun not intended) on a Saturday. Most people were outside having snowball fights, or in the library finishing homework.

"Shall we try again, or just sit here dazing off into space?" asked George.

"Fine, I'll start." Said Ron, "Supp—"

At that moment Hermione strode in, looking thoroughly exasperated.

"Ron! Harry! You two really should be doing homework. I'm already done all of mine, and now I am free to really enjoy my weekend."

Ron gaped at her. "You're done? The potions essay, the research paper for History of Magic… Blimey, you're amazing! Why don't you do my homework, too, since you get yours done so quickly?"

Ginny had gotten up, and was looking out the window. Fred was examining something he had found under an armchair.

"Hey, George, look at this. It's one of Katie's WitchTeen magazines. Wonder what we could do with this!" He said to his twin.

"Anyway," continued Hermione. "I think we should go visit Hagrid. He said we should stop by whenever possible, and we haven't gone to see him in two weeks."

"Alright!" agreed Harry immediately, not really wanting to argue about homework right now. "I'll just go get my cloak and scarf."

He and Ron hurried upstairs, glad to have the topic changed.


	2. Chapter 2 To eat or not to eat?

Hermione, Ron and Harry trudged along in the snow, dodging snowballs along the way.

"Oh! I forgot my scarf." Hermione was shivering.

Ron looked down at his own scarf, then back at Hermione.

"Here," he handed Hermione his scarf, "You can use mine. I don't really need it anyway." He blushed oddly.

Harry had observed this exchange, and now was fighting to keep a smile from crossing his face. Finally, they stopped in front of the little house, and Harry knocked.

"I'll…just be a…sec," came a grunted reply from inside.

Squealing could be heard, and quite a bit of thumping around. Hermione looked at her friends, her eyes wide.

"I really hope he hasn't got another monster." She said.

"Wa' was that 'bout monsters?" Hagrid had appeared at the door.

"Oh, nothing! Just…talking about Defence Against the Dark Arts." Hermione answered quickly.

"Well, come in, come in. It's cold out there!" Hagrid ushered them in. "Haven't seen ye in a while. Been busy with schoolwork, I 'spect?"

"Thanks. Uh, yea, I guess we have." said Harry, smiling up at his big friend.

"Tea? I've got some good cookies tha' would go well with it."

"Sure! My fingers were about to freeze off out there." Ron said.

As Hagrid busied himself at the stove, Hermione peered around the cabin. Finally she located the source of the squealing they had heard earlier.

"Hagrid! Is that…Is that a pig you've got there?"

"Wha'? Oh, yeh! Quite a cute little fella', don't ye think?"

"Brilliant!" Ron went over to the little hairless creature.

The rest of the visit was spent exclaiming over the pig, kissing the pig (Hermione's doing) and eating cookies. As they prepared to leave, Hermione turned back to Hagrid.

"You didn't get him for eating did you?" Her eyes pleaded with him.

"Oh, not…not yet. No." The big man averted his eyes. Then he smiled. "Well, better be getting off, you lot. It's gettin' a bit dark."

They set off for the castle again, Hermione looking quite troubled.


	3. Chapter 3 Concerning Essay's & Arguments

Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer. You're not supposed to be reading this; you're supposed to be reading my story, so I'm sorry if it's boring. I DON'T own Harry Potter…etc…

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That evening, at dinner, Hermione just stared at the food in front of her. She seemed to be thinking about something that troubled her.

"Uh…Hermione? Something wrong?" asked Harry.

"Huh? Oh, uh, no." she seemed to be coming out of a dream. "I'm not hungry. I'll just…go to bed now. Bye."

"That was odd." commented Ron, through a bite of chicken. "She didn't really seem to be…well, you know, all there."

"Yea." agreed Harry absentmindedly.

He did agree with Ron. Hermione was acting strange. He was just busy thinking; the only time Hermione ever looked distracted that way, and left during a meal was when she was angry, or she had to use the library for something. She obviously wasn't angry, but she didn't have any homework left to do either.

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-In the Gryffindor common-room-

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Hermione sat beside the fireplace in an armchair so big it dwarfed her. Only three other people were in the common-room at the moment; a large, male seventh year that had a really loud voice, and two little second years playing exploding snap.

_It's just so…gross, I guess. _Hermione was thinking. _I never really thought about it before though._

She felt a slight headache coming on, and decided to go to bed for real.

As she headed up the staircase, she heard Ron and Harry enter the common room. As usual, they were talking about Quidditch.

"You really should get some homework done tonight." She couldn't help herself from calling down to them.

A synchronized sigh was heard.

"You know Ron, she's right. We really should get some done."

They sat down and started their homework, Ron looking thoroughly grumpy.

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At 11:30 that evening, the common-room started to empty out. The only people left were those still doing homework; Fifth years and older.

"Hey Ron. Hey Harry. Still doing homework?"

Ron spun around to see who was behind him.

"Oh, hey Hermione. Could you _pleeeease_ help me with this essay? I've been working on it for almost two hours now!"

"Oh alright." She said patiently. She was used to this.

Harry looked up from his essay. "Hey, I thought you went to bed already."

"Yes, well. I went to bed so early that I've already got all the sleep I need."

"Well, that's good, now you can help us with this!" said Ron cheerfully, waving his essay in her face. She snatched it from him, and started making corrections.

"So," continued Harry. "What was wrong at supper? Why did you leave?"

"Oh. That." Hermione looked uncomfortable. "Well, I've decided to be vegetarian."

"What?" cried Ron, startled.

Harry decided not to say anything just yet. He didn't really know what to think.

"Yes," Hermione continued more strongly. "I think it's very cruel to kill defenseless animals just for our selfish needs."

"_Vegetarian? _Is it about the pig?"

"Not only the pig! It just helped me realize how horrible it is to eat animals." Hermione was getting a little red in the face from anger.

"Sound's stupid to me." muttered Ron.

"Well! If you think I'm stupid then you obviously don't need my help with this!" she threw Ron's essay on the floor and stomped off to her dormitory.

"What did I do?" ask a flustered Ron.

Harry continued writing, not looking at his best friend.

After awhile, Ron retrieved his essay from the floor, muttering angrily.

Please tell me what you think so far! Am I keeping everyone in character?


	4. Chapter 4 Transfiguration Lesson

Disclaimer: DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OKAY? Obviously. I doubt that J. K. Rowling would actually bother writing fan fictions about her own stories.

Please give me suggestions about anything you don't like in this story please. Am I keeping everyone in character? I hope so.

I'm sorry my chapters are so short.

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The next day at breakfast Hermione was deliberately ignoring Ron. He, in turn, was trying very hard to look carefree.

"Nice morning, eh, Harry?"

"Uh…. yeah."

Fred turned to look at Hermione.

"So! I heard you're vegetarian. Care for some bacon? Perhaps a slice of ham?" He waved the dishes in Hermione's face.

"No, no!" George had turned to her also. "I'm sure she's much rather have sausages. Much more nutritious, I'd think."

"Shut up!" Hermione growled at them. She picked up her plate to go sit with Ginny and Neville. The truth was, the smell of the meat was really tempting, and she was having enough trouble keeping her resolve without people waving it under her nose.

"Hey, Hermione." Ginny smiled at her.

"Hi." Said Neville.

"So," Hermione tried to feel cheerful. "How're you and Dean doing?"

"Oh, we broke up two days ago." Ginny replied breezily, stuffing a very large piece of egg into her mouth. "We decided that we just didn't like each other that way anymore."

Hermione smiled to herself, and resumed the eating of her pancakes. Ginny was so good at this romantic stuff.

After breakfast, Ron and Harry made their way to transfiguration. Hermione was ahead of them, talking with Parvati and Lavender.

"She's so stubborn." Ron looked frustrated.

"Well, you did tell her it was stupid." Harry said.

"Hello, students" Professor McGonagall was at the front of the classroom. Beside her was a crate of chickens. "Today we will be transfiguring chickens into turkeys. I will come around to each of your tables."

She started walking around the classroom, giving instructions.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Hermione's hand was in the air.

"Professor, doesn't it hurt the animals to be transfigured?" she was frowning.

"I don't believe so, Miss Granger, but since I am neither a chicken nor a turkey, I would not know." She turned away to watch Dean perform the spell. His chicken squawked and turned into a tennis birdie.

"Professor!"

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Does it hurt a human to be transfigured?"

"No, Miss Granger."

"Then it shouldn't hurt a chicken either, right?"

"I believe you are right. Now start practising, or you will be getting extra homework." Harry and Ron had been avidly listening to the exchange, and now snapped back to reality as Professor McGonagall tapped her wand on their desk.

"You too, boys."

They both turned to their chickens and started trying to transfigure them. Ron's first attempt consisted of turning the desk legs into chicken legs, which was walking away as Harry guffawed, and Ron looked ashamed. McGonagall quickly turned it back into its usual self and she then glared at Ron, who turned bright red.

As he tried the spell for himself, Harry thought he saw Hermione petting and crooning to her chicken, out to the corner of his eye, before she performed the spell perfectly, as usual.

Hermione looked over at Ron's feeble attempts looking rather smug. Ron just looked angry.

Please give me helpful suggestions if you have any. Please review, and are my characters in character?


	5. Chapter 5 Not Ron's Idea of a Good Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Wouldn't it be sort of stupid for J.K. Rowling to write fanfictions about her own books?

Please Read and Review. Any type of review, although constructive criticism is more appreciated than flames.

Two days later, Ron and Harry walked into the common room after dinner, when they noticed a crowd around the Message Board. Hermione was sitting in a pouf with her nose in a book, as usual.

"Hey Hermione." Harry greeted her.

Ron nodded in her direction, but looked stiff and formal. They still hadn't made up after the argument.

"Hello Harry. Ron." Hermione smiled.

Ron meanwhile walked over to the crowd and read the message over the many students' heads.

"Students for Animal Rights (SAR)…join…vegetarian…Hermione!" Ron cried, exasperated.

"I've started a group for Animal Rights. I'm not making you join, Ron, so you don't have to sound that way."

"Really, Hermione, who would join a stupid club like that?"

"Hmph." Hermione tucked her book under one arm, and her orange cat under the other, then stalked up the stairs to her dorm.

_Why does he take everything so personally? _Hermione lay down on her bed, while Crookshanks settled his massive self upon her stomach, purring agreeably. Staring up at her burgundy bed-hangings, she started to daydream. She was excited about her group. Surely there were other vegetarians at the school. She would get to meet some new people, who cherished the same values as her.

Hey, sorry my chapters are so short, and that I haven't updated in so long… And the story's not really going anywhere yet. I'll try and get somewhere with it. Give me ideas, criticism, praise, whatever. I want to hear from you! If you don't like the story, tell me WHY at least. Tell me where you want the story to go! Thanks,

SB


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